Billy Gilmour returns to Chelsea from Norwich City loan

There has been a lot of talk about returning loanees over the last few weeks at Chelsea due to a number of significant injuries in the first team. These talks have mostly centered around wingbacks like Emerson and Dujon Sterling, but the occasional midfielder has been brought up. This was mostly due to the Blues’ COVID-19 outbreak overlapping with their injury crisis, which extremely limited Thomas Tuchel’s team selection during a busy period of the season. Atletico Madrid loanee Saul’s poor performances didn’t exactly instill confidence in the German either.

However, those talks have largely died down, at least as far as a midfielder is concerned. As the winter transfer window drew closer, reports surfaced that it wasn’t possible for Chelsea to recall either of its young stars in the middle of the park. Conor Gallagher has put himself on the radars of Premier League fans after his impressive start at Crystal Palace. Billy Gilmour has finally established himself as a regular at Norwich City under Dean Smith too. Despite the mature performances from both phenoms, neither could come back to SW6 in January due to the number of appearances they already registered with their loan clubs. However, Gilmour has now returned to Cobham on a temporary basis as he gets an injury assessed that he suffered a few days ago.

Billy Gilmour returns to Chelsea to assess an injury he suffered at Norwich City

Gilmour picked up an ankle injury while on duty with the Canaries. This is just the latest setback in what has largely been a roller coaster season for the youngster. The 20-year-old has been in and out of the first team due to its overall struggles at the bottom of the Premier League table. Daniel Farke dropped him toward the end of his spell as manager because he trusted ‘the club’s own’ more than its loanees and young players. There is no telling in the grand scheme of things, but it’s likely this selfish blunder sped up the process and got Farke axed quicker seeing as Gilmour is the team’s best player overall. The Blues sent Gilmour to the Canaries in hopes Farke’s system would be similar to that of Tuchel and that their young midfielder would get experience in a pivot. Unfortunately, Farke changed his tactics often and Gilmour was eventually relegated to the bench.

However, since Smith took over after being sacked by Aston Villa, things have generally looked up for the Scottish Iniesta. Gilmour’s been an important player under Smith’s leadership. Although the overall results have not improved, that is hardly the Chelsea loanee’s fault, as many Norwich fans would have you believe. Gilmour’s recently become a scapegoat for the Canaries’ fans as it seems like they expect things from him he’s not particularly capable of doing. Norwich needs a goalscorer first and foremost and it is not going to get goals from the technical midfielder very often. He does have 20 career goals in 115 matches, all of which came at the youth level though.

Gilmour now returns to Cobham on a temporary basis. Chelsea will assess the severity of his ankle injury before sending him right back up northeast. Smith confirmed that Gilmour will rehab with the Canaries once the Blues determine the seriousness of his knock. Overall, this is just another teaching moment for the young Scot.

Prior to this year he had only made 22 appearances in senior football with Chelsea. Now, he’s close to matching that number this season alone with Norwich. This is all part of the professional game. While this is not the return many Blues fans wanted for Gilmour in January, it’s a moment where supporters for both sides get to see his resiliency. It’s important from here on out that he just keeps his head down and keeps working hard to overcome the obstacles he’s faced. It’s not all been smooth sailing as both clubs would’ve hoped, but if he manages to do this, there is a good chance he will be vying for his place in Tuchel’s squad in a few months’ time.

What do you think the future holds for Gilmour? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!